Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use overboard in a sentence

35 example sentences · adjective, adverb, verb

Overboard means outside of a boat; in the water. Example: “It was their practice to throw the scraps overboard.”

Examples of overboard by meaning

adverbOver the edge; especially, off or outside of a boat.

  • It was their practice to throw the scraps overboard.
  • But Theon is overwhelmed by the violence all around him, and instead he jumps overboard.2017 July 23, Brandon Nowalk, “The great game begins with a bang on Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club
  • His temper had been getting raggeder all the time, and the sousing he got when he fell overboard had just about ripped what was left of it to ravellings.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

adverbExcessively; too much.

  • They really went overboard with the party preparations.
  • In reality, brains go overboard with this sort of fear validation.2021, Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan, “What is... jealousy?”, in Let's Talk About It, →ISBN, page 190

verbTo throw over the edge of a boat into the water.

  • He has trotted after me from Spain into France and I swear the next time we take ship I will overboard him.’2020, Hilary Mantel, The Mirror and the Light, Fourth Estate, page 565

More sentences with overboard

  • He jumped overboard into the foamy waters of the Atlantic Ocean.From the entry foamy
  • You can decorate the new room, but don't go overboard with surreal paintings.From the entry go overboard
  • It's important not to go overboard and choke while playing chubby bunny.From the entry chubby bunny
  • The lashings, which had been holding the chest to the deck of the storm-tossed ship, broke, and it went overboard.From the entry lashing
  • Attach the buoys so they don't go overboard.From the entry go overboard
  • The cap'n hove the body overboard.From the entry heave
  • When the terrified, bleeding cow was washed overboard into the river, the hungry piranhas entered a feeding frenzy, turning the water red with blood.From the entry feeding frenzy
  • If you keep on refusing to excuse anyone for a bathroom break, you're going to force someone to wet their pants. Don't go overboard with it.From the entry wet one's pants
  • The particular person roleplaying Beatty in that battle suggested summarily executing Seymour and dumping him overboard.2018 October 17, Drachinifel, 30:18 from the start, in Last Ride of the High Seas Fleet - Battle of Texel 1918, archived from the original…. From the entry roleplay
  • She listened for some outcry from above—for the always-fearsome call, “Man overboard!” but it did not come.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 105. From the entry man overboard
  • One Malay seaman had resisted the rattan halter––he had been krissed to death on the spot and thrown overboard.2017, John D. Greenwood, Forbidden Hill, Monsoon Books, →ISBN. From the entry kris
  • "I'm definitely pro-eyebrow, but don't go overboard.2014 October 16, Ryan Ghisetti, “New brow-raising trend emerges”, in Gillen Martin, Zoe Ziegler, editors, The Arcata High School…. From the entry on fleek
  • "He's known to go a little overboard with the redfellas.2008, Charlie Stella, Mafiya, Pegasus Books, →ISBN, page 217. From the entry redfella
  • Some cats can go a little overboard, though.2007, Arden Moore, “Part I: Feeling Fine about Being Feline”, in Lisa H. Hiley, editor, The Cat Behavior Answer Book, North Adams, Mass.…. From the entry pincushion
  • After 11 days in space, the urine that was dumped overboard had frozen on to the side of the spacecraft.2005, Ed Buckbee, Wally Schirra, The Real Space Cowboys, illutrated edition, number 53, Apogee Books, →ISBN, page 86. From the entry pissicle
  • BTW, have you noticed that the xenophobia regularly shown on South Park goes way overboard when the topic is Canada?2001 June 11, Aaron Hirshberg, “Re: OT Surrender Canada”, in alt.tv.simpsons (Usenet). From the entry Canadaphobia
  • Anastasio Somoza says, 'I think I will throw a one-thousand cordoba bill overboard and make one Nicaraguan citizen very happy.'1990 June 29, Michael Ervin, “Sandinista!”, in Chicago Reader. From the entry cordoba
  • There the excess lubricant is mixed and burned with the incoming fuel charge instead of being discharged overboard.1971 December 1, “Outboard power for 1972. The power race seems to have slowed to a reasonable rumble, and emphasis now is on…. From the entry drainless
  • What happened to the man who went overboard?"1912, The Bradys and the Yellow Giant. From the entry answer up
  • He flung himself at the port ventilator as though he meant to tear it out bodily and toss it overboard.1902 January–March, Joseph Conrad, “Typhoon”, in George R. Halkett, editor, The Pall Mall Magazine, volume XXVI, London: Printed by…. From the entry cowl
  • OK, so maybe don’t go overboard but, if you want to take ranked seriously this season, be sure to start off on the right foot.2018 January 16, Ryan Gilliam, “What should you expect your new rank to be?”, in The Rift Herald, archived from the original on 29 Aug 2022. From the entry tryhard
  • Don't go overboard and find yourself with a sugar hangover that lasts for days and makes your diet days that much harder.2007, Suzanne Barnett, Jennifer Barnett Lesman, Amy Barnett Buchanan, Bev West, 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN. From the entry hangover
  • Father was washed overboard, Rupert said.2005, Michael Winter, The Big Why: A Novel. From the entry liven
  • As the crash dive began at 1:50 p.m., the overboard ventilation valve had not been closed, which resulted in tons of water flooding the submarine.2000 March 19, Charles M. Cooke, “Letters: Loose Lips, Sinking Ships”, in Washington Post, retrieved 25 Oct 2015. From the entry crash dive
  • A fan of the New Journalism, she put a premium on lively prose and colorful detail, throwing overboard the pompousness of the professional gourmets who dominated the profession.2022 November 1, William Grimes, “Gael Greene, Who Shook Up Restaurant Reviewing, Dies at 88”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry New Journalism
  • Privately, he thought of tossing the innards overboard as a sacrifice — a blood sacrament to feed other fish so they would multiply, plentify the seas.2004, Rick Henry, Anthony O. Tyler, Stephanie Coyne-DeGhett, The Blueline Anthology, page 230. From the entry plentify
  • If a fisherman gets his foot ensnared in a rope that is rapidly paying out, he will be dragged over and drowned almost before anyone realizes he is overboard.1997, Mark Kurlansky, Cod, page 117. From the entry pay out
  • On April 4, he made the hop from Haiphong to Fort-Bayard (present-day Chanchiang, China) but almost ditched and had to lighten the plane by throwing things overboard.[1989, Patrick Reynolds, Tom Shachtman, “Smith and Libby”, in The Gilded Leaf, Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 155. From the entry Zhanjiang
  • According to one version, he'd been so drunk at a yachtboard party one night that he'd fallen overboard and drowned in Sydney Harbour within sight of the Cremorne ferry dock.1988, Janette Turner Hospital, Charades, page 274. From the entry yachtboard

Meaning of overboard

  1. adjective Outside of a boat; in the water.
  2. adverb Over the edge; especially, off or outside of a boat.
  3. adverb Excessively; too much.

Full definition of overboard

Questions about overboard in a sentence

How do you use overboard in a sentence?
Overboard is used as an adjective, adverb and verb. For example: “It was their practice to throw the scraps overboard.”
What is a short sentence with overboard?
“Father was washed overboard, Rupert said.”
What does overboard mean?
Overboard means outside of a boat; in the water.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: overboard (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use overboard in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/overboard. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.